Monsanto Grower of the Year Award & AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year Awards

STEP ONE – NOMINATION PHASENominations open on January 29 and will close on March 30, 2018. Nominate here during this period.

Grower nominees enter into a single grower category in the first instance to create a “grower pool”.

Information provided in the nomination process includes:

Properly completed nomination form

A digital image of the nominee

You are encouraged to provide further written information at the nomination stage, however your choice to provide this information or not, will not have any bearing on your success as finalists.

Which one for me?Growers nominees are entered into a “grower pool” and are later allocated to the applicable category by the judging panel.

MONSANTO GROWER OF THE YEAR AWARD

CRITERIA:Nominees can be an irrigated or dryland cotton grower, regardless of farm size, demonstrating high levels of achievement in most of the cotton farm operation.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:Completed Entry Form only in the first instance; no additional paperwork required

At least one high quality digital image of nominee

AGRIRISK HIGH ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR AWARD

CRITERIA:Nominees can be an irrigated or dryland cotton grower, regardless of farm size, demonstrating very high achievement, excellence or innovation in ONE or more areas of the cotton farm operation.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:Completed Entry Form only in the first instance; no additional paperwork required

At least one high quality digital image of nominee

STEP TWO –INTERVIEW PHASEAll Nominees are invited to participate in a teleconference with the judging panel in April. The panel will send a questionnaire to nominees as the basis for the discussion. It is not necessary to complete this document but it is helpful to the panel.

During the teleconference, the judging panel will assess the nominee based on the criteria as follows:

Crop and Pest Management

Land and Water Management

Property & Infrastructure Development and Management

Staff Development andOH&S

Working towards the principles of myBMP (Best Management Practices)

Business Management and Marketing

Industry and/or Community Participation

The panel will consider the business as a whole, taking into account the resources and regional conditions specific to the farm; thus ensuring equity across family or corporate farms. The panel will consider if the nominee is demonstrating very high achievement, excellence or innovation in ONE or more areas of the cotton farm operation (making them more applicable for the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year) or if they excel across all of the criteria (making them more applicable for the Monsanto Grower of the Year).

The 2018 judging panel:

Chair of the High Achiever Panel – Geoff McIntyre

2017 AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year – Mark Cathcart

2017 Monsanto Grower of the Year – Cavaso Farming

Monsanto Representative – Mark Dawson

AgriRisk Representative – Deidre McCallum

Cotton Australia Representative – Stuart Armitage

Following the interview, nominees are shortlisted to six finalist growers across the two categories. Written feedback is provided to any nominees who fail to make the shortlist. This feedback focuses on the strengths of the business and is an acknowledgment of the areas in which they are achieving. Those that are finalists also receive feedback as to the areas of strength that the judging panel have identified in their business.

Finalists will be announced before the end of April. Finalists will be required to participate in some media and promotion activities. This usually involves responding to requests from your local media for interviews, photos and/or quotes.

STEP THREE – FARM TOUR PHASEThe judging panel then visits each of the finalists’ farms for a tour and interview of three to four hours duration. This tour will be held in April or May. Nominees are encouraged to involve their staff, consultants, Cotton Australia Regional Manager and Industry Development Officer in the farm tour. The farm tour should focus on those areas that most directly address the Awards Criteria and the areas of strength that have been identified.

During and after the farm tour the judging panel assesses the finalists and allocate each of them into the most applicable category and come to a decision on the recipients for both categories. At this stage the decision is made on some very fine differences between finalists and is usually a comparison of best with better or the sum total of all of the finalists’ achievements across all of the criteria.

STEP FOUR – RECIPIENTS’ ANNOUNCEMENTThe three Finalists in each of the two categories are invited to attend the Cotton Awards Industry Dinner to be held on the Gold Coast on August 9. They and their partner will be hosted by the sponsor of their category where the recipient will be announced, come onto stage to receive their award and make a two minute acceptance speech. During the Cotton Conference all finalists will take part in the Finalists Forum where they are asked questions about their nomination.

The Monsanto Grower of the Year will be encouraged to host the 2019 Grower of the Year Field Day on their farm with assistance from their local CGA and Cotton Australia.

2017 Monsanto Growers of the Year, Cavaso Farming.2017 AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year, Mark Cathcart.

What are the Rewards?Whilst recognition for your hard work is always the best reward, the Cotton Industry Awards also provide other benefits to the Monsanto Grower of the Year and the AgriRisk High Achiever of the Year:

every recipient receives a trophy and goes onto the Industry Honour Role

both recipients go on to be on the judging panel for the next year, visiting the new nominees’ farms throughout the cotton regions

every finalist will receive two free tickets to attend the Awards Dinner, hosted by the category sponsor

each category recipient will receive $2,000 cash to spend how they like

Grower of the Year is then nominated as Australian Farmer of the Year

What do I do next?

Ensure you are familiar with the criteria and the supporting materials you require to make a nomination.

Speak to your nominee/s (except for Service to Industry category) and enlist their help in developing the responses to the criteria and the supporting materials required.

Collect at least one high quality digital photo of the nominee/s.

Have all your nomination information ready and complete the on-line nomination form in one sitting (you cannot return to a partly completed nomination) at Nomination Form.